philips hts3538 not playing sound through optical audio (1 Viewer)

Hey guys,

Happy easter!

I recently bought a philips home theater hts3538 and connected it through my samsung led UN55F6400 through HDMI (ARC).
ARC works fine, Im able to hook up both devices and hear sound when the home theather is on ARC mode.Since ARC only transfers PCM 2.0 audio I decided to buy a optical audio cable to get DD 5.1 and connect it between the samsung led and the home theater, the thing is Im unable to get any sound when the receiver is set to optical, its like audio isnt being transfered through the optical cable, either through PCM 2.0 or any other format, no audio at all.
I have tested the optical cable by connecting it between my xbox and the home theater and it works so the cable seems fine. Could this be something related to hts firmware or due the fact that ARC is still plugged? I believe its the latest (firwmare version shows hts3538_55.bin)
What Im doing wrong ? Should I contact samsung support service? Its real hard to believe the optical port is damaged.

Any help is appreciated!
Thanks!

ARC and toslink are one in the same capability.

What "5.1" are you trying to get via the TV?

The only 5.1 that way, at all, is the built in tuner(maybe the app content).

If "other stuff connected HDMI"...you are SOL...cause you bought HTiB.

ARC and toslink are one in the same capability

Click to expand...

Sam, what do you mean? ARC is through the HDMI connection and TOSLink is optical. You always have some point with these statements, but this time it escapes me.

Since ARC only transfers PCM 2.0 audio

Click to expand...

That's not generally true, unless your HT has that limitation. Did it say that in your manual?

Could this be something related to ... or due the fact that ARC is still plugged?

Click to expand...

This is my guess. Have you tried turning off the ARC on both the TV and the HT?

Al.Anderson said:

Sam, what do you mean? ARC is through the HDMI connection and TOSLink is optical. You always have some point with these statements, but this time it escapes me.

Click to expand...

All ARC does is replace the need to make a 2nd TOSlink connection.

There is no mystical power it has.

Digital Coax, TOSlink and ARC are all digital. (However, ARC will never carry lossless...as the BD player will always need a direct route)

And, there are some TV that actually have Digital Coax...instead of TOSlink.

And the even dumber...LCD/DVD(BD) combos...those are almost exclusively Digital Coax...and for the DVD(BD) player only. The tuner(nor any other inputs) is not output on them.

Hi guys,

schan1269 said:

ARC and toslink are one in the same capability.

What "5.1" are you trying to get via the TV?

The only 5.1 that way, at all, is the built in tuner(maybe the app content).

If "other stuff connected HDMI"...you are SOL...cause you bought HTiB.

Click to expand...

What Im really trying is to set the tv to send the audio over the optical audio cable instead of ARC. Getting 5.1 through apps/usb is a concern but my main issue is to put my tv to stream the audio over the SPDIF instead of ARC. I do have multiple devices connected to the HDMI ports on my LED.

Al.Anderson said:

Sam, what do you mean? ARC is through the HDMI connection and TOSLink is optical. You always have some point with these statements, but this time it escapes me.


That's not generally true, unless your HT has that limitation. Did it say that in your manual?


This is my guess. Have you tried turning off the ARC on both the TV and the HT?

Click to expand...

I found ARC sends PCM 2.0 only because the other options are greyed out, even when Im playing a .mkv movie or mp3 music over a USB drive or playing youtube through the tv app.

I appreciate the quick response guys, thanks a lot.

If ARC is still functioning, turn the CEC off

Even if you get the toslink to work, you still won't have 5.1 for any of your external sources.The general rule is: if you have multiple sources capable of digital 5.1 audio, don't use your TV as the hub of the system. You need a real AVR to handle this sort of functionality.